South Africa launched the Hydrogen Society Roadmap: 70 priority actions and a Hydrogen Valley

The Hydrogen Society Roadmap, South Africa's national hydrogen development roadmap, was approved by the cabinet in September 2021 and formally presented publicly on 17 February 2022. The document, prepared by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), identifies 70 priority actions. It serves as a national framework for developing and integrating hydrogen technologies in the economy.

What the document contains

According to Daily Maverick the roadmap provides a framework for developing and integrating hydrogen technologies across various sectors of the economy and sets the goal of a competitive hydrogen economy by 2050; its authors at DSI stress the importance of local manufacturing of equipment and jobs. Work on it had been under way since 2008, when the department launched the HySA programme, and more than a hundred stakeholders took part in its preparation. The Ammonia Energy Association lists among its assumptions, among others, 500 thousand t of green hydrogen produced domestically by 2030, applications in heavy transport and energy-intensive industry, and a link to the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Minister Blade Nzimande presented the document publicly on Thursday 17 February 2022.

Hydrogen Valley

According to the Ammonia Energy Association, the Hydrogen Valley is one of the catalytic projects: a corridor linking the Anglo American platinum mine in Mokopane in Limpopo province with Johannesburg, and then with the port of Durban, with new hydrogen transmission and transport infrastructure. Daily Maverick reported that the results of the "Hydrogen Valley" feasibility study were published jointly by DSI and HySA together with partners. It is a concept and a framework plan, not a decision to build specific installations.

What this means for biogas and biomethane

The roadmap is not a document about biogas. From the perspective of the digestion industry two threads matter. First, low-carbon hydrogen competes with biomethane in industrial and transport applications, so decisions on priorities will affect the direction of investment. Second, biogas and biomethane can be a feedstock for hydrogen production (reforming), although South African policy is dominated by electrolysis and "green" hydrogen. We describe the boundaries between renewable hydrogen and "biohydrogen" in the article Electrolysis versus biohydrogen: RFNBO and why electricity from biogas is a different category.

Outlook

The roadmap is a policy document; its effectiveness depends on project financing, regulation and the availability of cheap electricity, which in South Africa depends on the state of the grid and on Eskom. The subsequent stages, from pilot projects to concrete investment decisions, will be the measure of real progress.